National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole says rubber bullets will now be used under strict rules.
This emerged on Monday in Pretoria where Police Minister Bheki Cele released a report by a panel of experts, looking into policing and crowd control in the South African Police Service.
The panel was appointed following the findings and recommendations of the Farlam Commission that looked into the 2012 Marikana tragedy.
Thirty-four miners died when police opened fire on striking Lonmin mineworkers at Wonderkop outside Rustenburg in the North West.
Sitole, however, says they are not planning to discontinue the use of rubber bullets.
“On the question of the use of rubber bullets we are not going to stop the use of rubber bullets. But we are going to change the SOP. And we are also going to issue a new national instruction regarding how they should be utilized. There’s going to be more stricter provisions for the police to make use of rubber bullets.”
Below is a video on the release of the report:
